Rights-linked reading
Book list suggestions for children and young people
Books are a fantastic way of exploring rights with children and young people through all stages of learning.
“When there are enough books available that act as both mirrors and windows for all our children, they will see that we can celebrate both our differences and our similarities, because together they are what makes us all human.” Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop
Books as windows, mirrors and sliding doors
When choosing texts to incorporate into your curriculum, we encourage you to think of the windows and mirrors approach to ensure that children and young people have access to diverse and inclusive texts.
Some questions to consider when choosing texts:
Whose voice is used to tell the story?
Is there diverse representation across the books we explore as a school? For example: cultures, languages, religions, types of family, genders, LGBTQIA+, disabilities, neurodivergence.
Do we use a range of books to explore rights? Fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, picture books and poetry can all be used successfully.
What themes are included and are we covering a wide range of CRC articles through the books we use as a school?
Why not explore our padlet which has a collection of resources and ideas from a range of organisations that can help you use books effectively to explore children’s rights.
Case Studies
We would also recommend reading our three case studies of schools who have done interesting work in this area: George Green’s Secondary, St Mary’s CE Primary School Moss Side and Barr Hill Primary. For a few simple ideas on visually linking reading to rights see these examples from George Spicer Primary School.
Staff training on linking books to rights
If you are interested in strengthening your work linking books to rights, why not use our Spotlight on threading rights through the curriculum using literature to run a staff meeting with your colleagues.
Book lists
These downloadable pdf reading lists are not prescriptive; they are not intended as books that you must include in your literature work as a Rights Respecting School.
They are simply a list of book suggestions that have been tried and tested by other teachers who are linking reading and rights and which you may find useful if you are aiming to do similar in your educational setting.
These book lists were produced in early 2024 and linked to our Spotlight on threading rights through your curriculum using literature. We hope they inspire you to make your own links between favourite books and children’s rights.
